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African Ministers to
Discuss Mutual Accountability
Addis Ababa, 22 May 2003 (ECA) African Ministers of
Finance, Planning and Economic Development are to
meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on 1 June to discuss how
the international development system can more effectively
aid Africa's battle against poverty.
Their discussions will focus on three topics:
- Mutual Accountability, Policy Coherence and Development
Effectiveness;
- Making the International Monetary Fund Work Better for
Africa; and
- The Macroeconomic Implications of HIV/AIDS.
A meeting of the Committee of Experts will precede the
Conference from 29 - 30 May. In addition to the Ministers,
more than 500 participants -- including central bank
governors, leading academics and researchers, and
international partners -- are expected to attend.
The 2003 Conference of African Ministers of Finance,
Planning and Economic Development is organized by the
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) under the theme
Towards greater policy coherence and mutual accountability
for development effectiveness.
The theme has been chosen to provide an opportunity for
African Ministers and senior African policymakers to
develop African positions on policy coherence and
harmonization towards enhancing development effectiveness,
as well as to the current discussions over the future role
of the IMF in Africa.
The 1 June Conference is being held back-to-back with the
Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (ADB), at
the United Nations Conference Centre in Addis Ababa. The
two institutions will jointly sponsor the Annual Meetings
Symposium, to be held on 2 June and previously a hallmark
of the ADB Annual Meetings. The theme of this year's
Symposium is 'Poverty Reduction, Social Development, and
the Millennium Development Goals in Africa: Are We Making
Progress on the Ground?'. The ADB Annual Meetings will
take place from 3 - 5 June.
African Finance, Planning and Economic Development
Ministers are key policymakers for both the ADB and ECA.
In the past, these policymakers were obliged to travel to
two separate meetings at different times of the year,
a situation that affected attendance and worked against
the development of coherent African positions.
Holding the meetings
successively provides more time for the Ministers and
other stakeholders to discuss and chart new policy
initiatives. Back-to-back meetings also allow these senior
policy makers to agree on strategy in time for crucial
negotiations at international for a, such as the annual
meetings of the Bretton Woods institutions.
In recent years, the ECA Conference of Ministers has
provided a forum for agreement on strategy in tackling key
challenges facing the continent. Last year's meeting, held
in South Africa, was the largest gathering of key
Ministers dealing with economic policy in Africa on NEPAD
since its endorsement by African leaders. At that meeting,
Ministers were unified in their call for action, and
outlined detailed proposals for how NEPAD could best be
moved forward.
Issued by the ECA Communication Team
22 May 2003
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